Nawal Zohdy¹ , Muhammed Shamseldean² , Emtithal Abd El-Samiee , Heba Mohammed Hamama¹

1. Biological control, Entomology Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Egypt;
2. Zoology and Nematology Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Egypt
Author    Correspondence author
Journal of Mosquito Research, 2013, Vol. 3, No. 5   doi: 10.5376/jmr.2013.03.0005
Received: 12 Jan., 2013    Accepted: 23 Jan., 2013    Published: 28 Feb., 2013

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Zohdy et al., 2013, Efficacy of the Steinernematid and Heterorhabditid Nematodes for Controlling the Mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus Say (Diptera: Culicidae), Vol.3, No.5 35-46 (doi: 10.5376/jmr.2013.03.0005)

Entomopathogenic nematodes can be considered effective biocontrol agents of pest insects in aquatic habitat. Larvae of Culex quinquefsciatus Say were exposed to infective juveniles of Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, H. indica, Steinernema carpocapsae, and S. feltiae under laboratory conditions. The bioassay studies revealed the suppressive role of H. bacteriophora and H. indica nematode in controlling the mosquito, C. quinquefasciatus. They successfully established themselves in the host cadaver and produced infective juveniles. On the other hand, both S. carpocapsae and S. feltiae failed to establish in the host larvae or attain significant host mortality values. This is the first report of parasitism of entomopathogenic nematodes isolates from Egypt against larvae of C. quinquefasciatus, with promising results. Therefore, further studies must be carried out to determine if these nematodes would be effective as autochthonous agents for the control of Culex sp. and other mosquitoes of sanitary interest.

Mosquito; Culex quinquefsciatus; Nematode; Heterorhabditis bacteriophora; H. indica; Steinernema carpocapsae; S. feltiae; Bioassay